In Manuel Altolaguirre’s first poetry,
the floral motifs appear sporadically, associated
with traditional topoi or showing ingenious
skill. Afterwards, in a second stage, when the
poet’s experiences lead to a re-humanization
of his verses, metaphors evolve in ontological
or metaphysical contexts. Within its peculiar
cosmogony, Altolaguirre reinterprets the Narcissus
myth, in order to represent the miracle
of poetic word blooming or to neutralize death
through metempsychosis. Therefore, in some
texts connected by an internal intertextuality,
flower and mirror are linked. Besides, the poet
also revitalizes the rose motif, as beauty and
poetry symbol, and he finally finds his inner
Eden, the transcendental garden where he gets
rid himself of temporality and he can experience
the feeling of eternity